Washers Game: Rules, Scoring & Instructions For Building Your Own Hillbilly Horseshoes Game

It’s a fun backyard game. But when you think about it, horseshoes can be a pretty dangerous game — especially when children come running through the yard without giving a thought to their personal safety. Those hefty chunks of iron are capable of causing a fairly serious injury.

There is another fun backyard game that follows the same thought as horseshoes. It’s equal in skill requirements, but reduces the weight of the object being tossed to a couple ounces and completely eliminates that dangerous rod sticking out of the ground!

Washers is a family-oriented skill game that is easily portable, can be set up in a couple seconds, and is considerably safer than horseshoes.

Washers vs Horseshoes

For starters, a game of washers replaces the heavy iron rings used in horseshoes with simple steel washers from the hardware store.

The steel rods used to score are replaced by a wooden board with 3 holes (or a wooden box with 1 hole, depending on which “version” you’re playing).

Each hole is large enough to accept a washer when accurately thrown at it.

First, and arguably the most used, is the square washers box. This classic style of the game of washers is preferred by most washers pitching veterans. Second, the octagon style washers box is a new style that popped up over the years. It’s a great washers box that demands somewhat of a higher skill level. Finally, the 3- hole washers set design is a style that can only be identified as unique. Source

It’s worth noting that washer toss boxes have a variety of different surfaces. On some, the wood board is carpeted. On others, the wood is stained. Some even have a rubber surface to add a little bounce to the action.

Without a doubt, the most common variety is the washer box (or board) with a plain wood surface. When building your own, the choice is yours!

I’ve been involved in RVing for over 40 yrs -- including camping, building, repairing, and even selling RVs. I’ve owned, used, and repaired almost every class and style of RV ever made. I do all of my own repair work. My other interests include cooking at home, living with an aging dog, and dealing with diabetic issues. If you can combine a grease monkey with a computer geek, throw in a touch of information nut and organization freak, combined with a little bit of storyteller, you've got a good idea of who I am.